AIRlabs Austria
Austria's national UAS innovation laboratory — multi-site test ranges from alpine to urban, plus SORA, ConOps and BVLOS approval support.
Vitality Radar
Pillar Analysis
Strategic Assessment
Strategic Vector
AIRlabs Austria is positioning itself as a national UAV test-infrastructure and competence center, focusing on demanding BVLOS and SORA-driven operations across diverse Austrian environments.
Efficiency Ratio
The company appears to leverage a relatively lean central organization and shared partner infrastructure to deliver substantial test capacity and regulatory know‑how per unit of resource.
Evidence Signals
AIRlabs Austria published a detailed overview of its distributed operational drone test areas (R TSA) across Austria, emphasizing high and low mountain ranges and urban environments for UAS testing.
AIRlabs Austria described its UAV test infrastructure offering, including drones, sensor and radar systems and modular combinations tailored to customer projects, indicating operational readiness of these assets.
AIRlabs Austria announced its role as implementation and infrastructure partner alongside FH JOANNEUM as technical and scientific host for the 7th UAV Flight Test Convention 2026.
Holding Graz stated it is one of the project partners of AIRlabs Austria GmbH to test the operation of UAS under real conditions over the coming years.
AIRlabs Austria conducted the first drone flights at LOGG Punitz Airfield with the support of Austro Control Dronespace to assess cellular connectivity in UAS test facilities.
AIRlabs Austria presented itself as a competence center and research partner for innovative UAV technologies, covering conception, simulation and practical testing.
AIRlabs Austria distributed a brochure detailing its infrastructures and competencies, including the Dronehall Klagenfurt indoor test area with tracking system, variable lighting, and computing units for controlled UAV testing.
AIRlabs Austria presented the geographic layout of its flight test areas, including LO-R9 Steinalpl, LO-R10 Reichersberg, LO-R11 Frauschereck and LO-R12 Hochkar, indicating a multi-site test range footprint.
- About
- A nationwide public-private innovation laboratory for unmanned aviation, funded by the Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure and the FFG under the Take-Off programme from 2020 to 2025, with the consortium led by FH JOANNEUM. Rather than one site, it runs a multisite concept across specialised locations, serving every technology readiness level from simulation through flight test in public airspace. The test estate spans alpine to urban: the Hochkar area for altitude and safety testing, the Reichersberg LO R 10 area for large and heavy UAV work with paved take-off and landing surfaces, and dedicated higher-risk evaluation zones. Testing covers control and communication systems, materials and mechatronics, sensors and UTM systems, with noise measurement work ranging from sub-250g UAVs up to the manned eHang 216. The commercially useful part for a foreign entrant is the regulatory side: in-depth support in the EASA 'Specific' category covering emergency response plans, SORA and ConOps, plus planned support for obtaining the Light UAS Operator Certificate required for long-range BVLOS operation. Consortium and project partners include FACC, Schiebel, Frequentis, RIEGL, Austro Control and FH JOANNEUM. AIRlabs 2.0 is the announced next phase, adding hangars and on-site meeting facilities.
- Relevancy
- Austria's national drone test network — alpine, rural and urban test ranges plus hands-on help getting flight approvals from the regulator. For any foreign company wanting to test or certify a drone in Austria, this is the most useful single relationship on the map.
- Tags
- #testrange #BVLOS #SORA #LUC #certification #multisite #alpine